Still alive - plus, some interesting books to consider reading

The past few weeks have been pretty tumultuous over here for a number of reasons, primarily moving to a new house, poverty (relatively speaking, of course), and having no internet (!!!!), but now I’m back with a very important message, namely: I want to let you all know what books I think are worthwhile. After all, the implication of being well-read (i.e. showing interest in books) is almost as good as actually being well-read. So here are a few good books I’d read, or at least sample if I had the time.

1)”Dave Barry’s Money Secrets - Like: Why is There A Giant Eyeball on the Dollar?”

I admit, I’m actually sort of reading this one, and it makes me laugh a lot. Hydralisk, this is one you should find on tape/CD if you can. It will help you shift some paradigms and revolutionize outside the box, or something like that.

2) “Obama Nation” by Jerome Corsi

When I first ran into this one at the book store, I got a little excited - “A well-researched, non-gushing book about Barack Obama?! How much is this? I’ll take 2.” I skimmed the preface, and thought it seemed pretty even-keeled and objective (and for the record, the author is not a Republican, but a Constitutionalist). However, when I checked out what wikipedia, the bastion of e-truth, had to say, my faith was shaken - apparently Corsi has taken some liberties with the facts, or else just drawn conclusions many didn’t want to hear (or, more likely, something in the middle). So anyway, I’m a little more skeptical of the book. However, it is on The New York Times bestsellers list, and, like so many people in this country, I take the New York Times more seriously than a lot of things. It can do no wrong. Ever. Seriously, though, I’m intrigued to hear what Corsi has to say about Chairman Barack’s supposed cult of personality.

3) “The Definitive Guide to Stuff White People Like” by Christian Lander

Another book I happily bumped into at the store the other day. Flipping through it, I was surprised at how many people the author and I both seem to know Lander has a great way of poking fun at white people (or, as one of my white co-workers candidly pointed out, a certain subset of white people: the college-educated, left-leaning ones), and I admire his ability to do so in a way that is simultaneously incisive and good-humored.

Also, you can check out the official website, stuffwhitepeoplelike.com.

A music video that actually works

Ok, so it turns out that the Travis video doesn’t like being embedded into blogs, but be sure to check it out on YouTube here. Instead, here’s “Knights of Cydonia” by Muse, a delightful, riff-heavy romp. It’s funny, my first exposure to this song was playing Guitar Hero against my little sister, and I got whipped. But now I am the master, and ready for a rematch!

I haven’t posted anything by Travis lately

Ah, great music, great video, great band. Travis always makes for a good, self-indulgent post

Why didn’t anyone tell me?!

So, I know I said I’d talk about some relatively substantial things next time I get off my duff to write but, well, sometimes I talk big and make promises I won’t keep (like Barack Obama! Zing!).  So, I just stumbled upon the news that another X-Files movie is coming out in July. My first thought was “Huh?”, followed shortly by “Cool!” Yes, it did seem a little strange to me that another X-Files movie is being released in the near future, seemingly unannounced (although I’m rarely at a movie theater, and thus miss a lot of trailers, I’m sure) and so long after the show’s golden era (i.e. before Duchovny left and before the writing and storytelling got kinda stupid). I mean, I bet there’s a lot of punk kids today who’ve never even heard of the X-Files! But strange or not, I believe what I’ve read - fitting as the film’s subtitle is “I Want To Believe”, nyuk nyuk. Seriously, though, I really liked the X-Files before its decline, not to mention before my attention got wrapped up in other things, like college. I have many fond, if not tense and scary, memories during high school of watching X-Files on Sunday night when I should have been completing my procrastinated homework. Ah, the memories!

Interestingly, the movie reportedly is a “stand-alone story on the struggle between faith and science” rather than another chapter in the series’ unfolding alien mythology.  I have to say, one thing I always liked about the show was its open-minded approach to both science and faith, embodied in Mulder, the irrational believer, and Scully, the hard-nosed skeptic, and their evolving relationship as they investigated the unknown. Wow, that’s a lot like life, isn’t it? We’re all some combination of Mulder and Scully as we try to make sense of this thing we call mortality. See, I somehow managed to go deep despite an initially frivolous topic!

The article can be found here.

Because I like them and I’m too lazy to write…more Travis!

Travis (the band, not the person) probably makes the best music videos

These guys crack me up! I especially like the epic battle at the end.

This is totally awesome.

Our best weapon against terror

Chavez told to “shut up” by Spain’s king

This is awesome: at a recent summit for Latin American, Portuguese, and Spanish leaders, Chavez, after being his usual belligerent self, was told to “shut up” by Spain’s king. Read about it here or, if you speak Spanish, watch it here.

Seinfeld’s take on Halloween

My roommate just showed me this funny video. Ah, that Jerry Seinfeld!